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30 May 2018

Dental problems - $465 budget blowout.

On Sunday night one of my back teeth broke. The whole corner came off leaving a big hole - not painful but needing attention. Now I'm not great at going to the dentist (used to get really anxious before I found my current dentist) but I decided to just get it over and done with and had an appointment yesterday. $465 later my tooth is fixed and a few problems have been uncovered.

I've been sick on and off over the last 6-8 weeks, getting swollen glands one one side of my neck, headaches, sore throat, nausea. I kept putting it down to having a viral illness. Last week I had to leave work when I got really ill with nausea and migraine. It turns out that the tooth, which has an amalgam filling has been leaking for at least a month or more. Occasionally I had noticed a metallic taste in my mouth a few times, but it went away and I had no tooth symptoms. I've been reading up on symptoms of mercury from amalgam fillings and my symptoms certainly fit the bill. I'm really hoping that I start to feel better now that the tooth is fixed.

However there are still a few problems. I have a low grade infection around my wisdom tooth which at age 55 still trie to come through now and again. I have to get x-rays of that and she also found a small cavity on x-ray that needs filling.

I was a bit surprised at all this. Its not even a year since I had my last dental checkup. So I've been reading up overnight on a whole lot of ways to improve my teeth and get rid of this mild infection before it becomes a big problem.

I'm going to start with taking some Vitamin C and oil pulling with coconut oil. I've ordered some charcoal toothpaste and am looking into some herbal oils that are supposed to help gum disease. 

I have more amalgam fillings and she checked them all for any cracks in the tooth - fortunately at this stage there are none. I do wonder if they contribute to some of my health issues but I don't plan on removing them unless I have to. But I do plan on upping my mouth care as it really can affect health in general, and health is the most important thing, especially as we get older.

So the budget took a big hit but I'm so glad I didn't put off going and now I can prevent things getting worse.

Just wondering if anyone has had similar problems and what you'd done about it or have you had amalgam fillings removed?


5 comments:

Cheapchick said...

Hubby has mouth sores which have been put down to mouth sporiasis. Originally they thought it was old amalgam. At one time they even thought he might have mouth cancer. After seeing a specialist who does research on these things he told him to rinse daily with baking soda - cheap and it works. It doesn't taste great but is an easy way to help with mouth issues of any kind. Also, they told him removing amalgam can be very dangerous too as it reactivates the poison part. Not sure if this helps :)

T'Pol said...

My amalgam fillings became loose over time and I had them replaced with new fillings. I have only one left. My dentist is going to take care of that when I finally find the courage to go in for the implant I neeed :)

Jan said...

I've been told the same about removing them only if really needed. I will definitely try the baking soda, easy and inexpensive - thanks.

Jan said...

Yes I always need to work up courage to see the dentist!

Nawm D Gerr said...

Hope you get it figured out, that is scary.